Dozens of Australian police officers under investigation over racist and pornographic emails

Up to 100 Australian police officers are under investigation over allegations that they circulated racist, homophobic and offensive emails detailing torture and pornography.

By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney

12:37PM GMT 25 Mar 2010

Police chiefs in the southern Australian state of Victoria refused to divulge the contents of the emails because they were "too shocking" to be released to the public and could cause alarm and a loss of confidence in the force.

But officers said that the emails were extremely racist, homophobic and, in some cases, contained pornography. One of the worst was reported to show an "ethnic" man being tortured. As the image circulated, racist comments were added, according to Melbourne's The Age newspaper.

As a result of the investigation, one officer who faced losing his job over a "seriously inappropriate email" has committed suicide. Another policeman faces the sack over an "extremely racist" email.

The allegations are a blow for Victoria's police force, which has suffered accusations of racism following its handling of a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne over the past year. News of the email scandal will not improve the force's image in India, where one newspaper cartoon recently depicted Victorian officers as members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Simon Overland, Victoria's police commissioner, said officers who were found to have shared the "disturbing and gross" emails would be fired.

Mr Overland would not confirm the details of the emails but said some were "extremely serious, some are offensive". He refused to confirm whether they contained racist remarks against Indian students or Africans - two minority groups who have criticised police conduct in recent months.

The police ethical standards department has been using computer experts to track the emails, which were sent and received on police department computers.

One officer who was under investigation committed suicide earlier this week.

Sergeant Tony Vangorp, 47, was one of two officers who had been given a "Section 68" notice telling them that they had lost the confidence of their superiors and must show cause why they should not be dismissed.

Sgt Vangorp, who had worked for the police for 30 years, resigned from his job at Healesville police station in Melbourne's Yarra Ranges and later shot himself.

Mr Overland said the incident was "tragic".

The state's top police watchdog, the Office of Police Integrity, confirmed last week that it had also launched an investigation into racism in the force after a damning report accused police officers of attacking African youths in Melbourne's streets.

The report, by Springvale Monash Legal Service, accused police of calling young African men "monkey" and "black c***". In one instance, officers allegedly removed their uniforms to attack a group of Africans in a park.

In response to the report, Mr Overland admitted that a small minority of officers were racist.

"Where we find it, people can expect that I will deal with them in the strongest possible terms," he said.